METALCON Heads to Denver, Exhibitors Are Optimistic

METALCON International is heading to Denver for the first time and it’s a good thing … signs are that construction business is definitely improving.

METALCON, scheduled for Oct. 1-3 at the Colorado Convention Center, annually attracts thousands of attendees looking to learn more about metal: contractors, architects, specifiers, roofers, designers, developers and suppliers from more than 50 countries.
METALCON’s first-ever visit to Denver allows manufacturers and suppliers with offices in the Rocky Mountains to reach out to thousands of potential customers. According to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., Denver’s employment growth was more than 1 percent higher than the national average.

“Metro Denver will have quite a strong employment growth in three leading sectors of our economy in 2014—natural resources and construction (8 percent), professional and business services (4.3 percent) and education and healthcare services (3.5 percent),” says Patty Silverstein, chief economist for the Metro Denver EDC. “Growth in these industries sends positive ripple effect through other areas of our economy.”

That can only be good news for METALCON exhibitors and attendees.

Clay Trapp, Sales Representative for DECRA Roofing Systems in the Denver area is looking forward to his first METALCON. “I’ve been with DECRA for only a few months, so this is a great opportunity for me,” Trapp says. “We’ve got some good partnerships in the area.” DECRA manufactures a range of stone-coated metal roofing shingles. Most of the work for DECRA in the area is in the residential segment.

For AMSI Supply of Douglasville, Ga., the opportunity to visit a new venue should lead to a boost in business. “We do a fairly decent amount of business in the Rockies,” says David Trefzger, general manager at AMSI. “Still, most of our business is east of the Mississippi River. We hope to have another good show at METALCON, generate some new business.”

AMSI’s business in the Rocky Mountains is approximately 60 percent in the commercial market, 25 percent for government projects and the remainder in residential. AMSI Supply manufactures metal roofing components: roofing clips, bearing plates, measuring, cutting and seaming tools and much more.

“We’ve identified the Rockies as one of our seven important regions because of the weather there, metal roofing is user-friendly there, it sheds snow,” says David Rowe, Director of Product Management-Building Envelope at Englert Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of standing seam metal roofing. “Are we looking forward to METALCON being in our backyard? You bet!” Rowe says of Englert’s roofing projects in the Rocky Mountains, about 80 percent are commercial with the remaining 20 percent residential projects.

Not everyone exhibiting at METALCON has tapped into the Rocky Mountain market. Franklin Manufacturing Inc., a global leader in high quality hydraulic steel fabrication equipment based in Russellville, Ala., is looking for new customers. “We haven’t done a whole lot of business in that area,” says Dale Moore, sales and project development at FMI. “That’s one of the reasons we wanted to make sure we were at this show. Plus we’ve made every METALCON the last umpteen years.”

Moore believes his potential customers would rather put their hands on FMI products than watch a video online. “I have no doubt that a first-time show in Denver will be a very good one,” Moore says. “We’re very upbeat about this show.”